


Well, it’s kinda complicated

by twicenootnoot



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, guess the ships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-01-07 06:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18405152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twicenootnoot/pseuds/twicenootnoot
Summary: As much as possible, Dahyun just wants to make her life less complicated. But a few distractions got her preoccupied.





	1. I

Hell week.

 

It’s that time of the school year. Unusually crowded libraries, students practically living in coffee shops, and people filling the timeline with tweets ranting about how much studying they still have to do (instead of actually doing the work). Students are scattered around the campus settling on a comfortable spot for them to have a last minute recap of what they have memorized so far, some are pacing back and forth as they rehearse their parts for that midterm group presentation, while some are huddled with their friends as they review together and occasionally argue on which is the right answer.

 

Aside from the lack of sleep and palpitations due to caffeine that as a result heightens the panic and stress over the possibility of failing in class, at least there is a bright side — it’s Friday, last day of the hell week. Dahyun could finally stop worrying about her future (for the meantime) after she survives the remaining midterms for the day. 

 

It’s 2:27pm which means she has exactly one hour and three minutes until the last subject. She is currently cramming for the midterm test for their Fundamentals of Business Analysis class, she has actually been trying since last night to fit half of the semester in a span of less than 24 hours.

  

Tzuyu is quiet, doing her best to concentrate. With her brows furrowed while looking intently at her neatly written and color coded notes that she spent more time writing and organizing instead of actually understanding.

 

Chaeyoung with her elbow on the table and head in her right hand while staring blankly at her textbook — keywords and phrases highlighted in two different colors with her signature strawberry doodles on the sides of the pages. She’s most probably not absorbing anything right now.

 

Dahyun is clearly in panic, trying to make sense of her careless handwriting that doesn’t help with her so called photographic memory so she just keeps on flipping the pages, going from her notebook to her textbook — scanning through paragraphs, frameworks, and equations. Trying to retain something. _Anything_. Other than the cute little penguin with hearts all around it and a speech balloon that says “fighting!!” that Mina drew on the corner when they were bored out of their minds during a lecture on the topic Business Statistics.

 

At this point, she is undoubtedly regretting that she chose to have a thriving social life over academics. It seemed like yesterday she was just meeting her professors for the first time, discussing the course syllabus for the term, and then suddenly she wakes up and she needs to swallow half of the learning materials and digest seven chapters of theories, concepts, and analytical models. Time does seem to fly when you’re having fun (and avoiding your immediate responsibilities).

  

Contrary to how the three of them are, Mina who is across Tzuyu and sitting beside Dahyun, is all poised and collected while skimming through her notes and reviewing everything as she makes sure she got them right. She looks composed as she reads the problems on the practice test and confidently writes down her computation. She smiles to herself as she checks the reviewer answer key seeing she got them correct.

 

“I am seriously gonna flunk this test.” Dahyun flatly states with a sigh.

“Come on, we still have time just calm down. Breathe in.” Tzuyu inhales deeply. “Breathe out.” She exhales slowly. Although it’s probably herself she’s trying to convince to calm down and not Dahyun. “Read one page at a time maybe that would help.”

“I mean really, what’s the point?” Chaeyoung says as she’s pinching the bridge of her nose, eyes shut closed, shaking her head in frustration.

“The point _is_ , we can’t fail this subject. It’s a prerequisite for majors.” Mina says as she briefly looks up from her notes.

  

They are business majors, taking together one of their remaining general business subjects before they completely go on their separate fields — Tzuyu in finance, Chaeyoung in advertising, Dahyun in marketing, and Mina in international business studies.

  

“So, isn’t it such a good idea for you guys to learn more than two months worth of information all in one night?” Mina sarcastically throws them a question as she closes her notebook and takes out her phone for a little break.

  

Of course they have been given reasonable time to prepare for this test but bad decisions and wrong prioritization got in the way. She just gave more time to having fun justifying they had to live a little, college is short anyways. It started with _maybe just for one Friday night_ that turned into _maybe just for the weekend_. Unfortunately, it turned into weeks of slacking off and now it’s too late. And just as how fast the first half of the semester went by, that’s how faster one hour and three minutes is.

 

“Let’s just go and wing it!” Chaeyoung exclaims as she hurriedly packs her stuff.

“Yeah right, sure. We got this.” Although Tzuyu’s face says otherwise. The only response Dahyun manages to give is a grunt as she stacks her stuff and shoves them into her bag.

“Good luck.” Mina whispers to Dahyun as she held her hand. Dahyun gives her a smile and intertwines their fingers as they walk side by side behind their two friends.

 

It turns out the test wasn’t _that_ bad. At least she got to use her common sense for the multiple choice category and then relied on context clues for the true or false. It wasn’t that good either. Considering the fact that when she read the first problem solving question she already had zero idea which among the topics does it belong in. She tried to use every possible computation she can squeeze out of her brain and even jumbled them into whatever combination she can think of but keeps on failing to come up with an answer that would seem to make sense. It still could have been worse though.

 

“I’m sure I’ll barely pass. I should do way better in the finals.” Dahyun says as the four of them stepped out of the room.

“It’s just the first half of the semester anyway. I’m sure you can catch up.” Mina reassuringly tells Dahyun as she clings to her right arm and Dahyun instinctively grabs her hand as they walk the hallway.

“I’m just happy it’s done already.” Tzuyu lets out a breath, obviously relieved. “We could pause stressing out for a while.”

“I’m not saying our below average effort is worth the celebration, aside from you Mina because you really worked hard. But wow we actually got through the week!!” Chaeyoung can’t contain her excitement as she skip walks ahead of her friends.

 

It’s almost mandatory to have fun after exam week so naturally, Dahyun and her friends _will_ go out. She admits that her midterm performance is less than mediocre, she basically doesn’t deserve it but she seems to always find an excuse to let loose — she survived the week _and_ it’s a Friday night. They find themselves in the nearest pub within the vicinity of the campus and dormitory, only two more tables left unoccupied while the rest enjoy their time under the dim yellow lights as R&B music blasts through the scene. Nearly everyone in school goes there, you’d definitely spot a familiar face somewhere in the crowd.

 

Like Sana, who is standing by the entrance, talking animatedly with her bestfriend as they wait for their other friends. She is someone particularly difficult to miss with her out of this world beauty and charming personality that effortlessly captivates people with a simple smile. Dahyun had a couple of classes with her and she’s been friendly, even maybe too friendly sometimes. But of course Dahyun doesn’t mind.

 

Sana’s bestfriend, Nayeon, seems to be a little buzzed judging from the way she leans against the wall for support. Dahyun has one class with her this current semester and they have decided to remain seatmates ever since they clicked during the first day. Dahyun is beyond grateful to have an irresistible ball of sunshine beside her during long boring hours in the classroom.

 

She also noticed Mina’s crush, Jeongyeon, when she passed by the beer pong tables. Mina has mentioned before how adorably goofy she is when they were group mates and couldn’t stop gushing when Jeongyeon asked for her number. She’s playing with her friends, Momo and Jihyo, and they are definitely winning this round.

 

Jihyo is that all-around achiever students would normally dream of becoming and Dahyun has been witnessing this firsthand — since the start of the semester they have already been assigned to group for a final research project and Jihyo never misses an opportunity to accomplish tasks regardless of the non-threatening deadline.

 

During the few times Jihyo dragged Momo along for their project meetings Dahyun has learned that Momo is a great company, all happy and giddy and curious about the world. She has that refreshing childlike energy that would lighten up the mood.

  

Placed on a wooden square table are: a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, a liter of Coca-Cola, a bucket of ice, four glasses, and a platter of nachos right beside a bowl of Philly cheesesteak fries. Dahyun and her friends start off the night with a F*ck the Dealer card drinking game, and Dahyun’s luck as a dealer is not on her side for this evening much to the entertainment of her friends. The card has been guessed correctly on the first try for three times in a row already, at this rate she will be drinking more than she could in a short amount of time. They move on to spin the bottle and begin with lighthearted truth questions like _what did you really feel about Chaeyoung having orange hair and awkward length baby bangs?_ And very casual dares such as to pay for the ride home or free dinner for a week. They spend the night talking and laughing over nonsense that you would normally find funny only when you’ve had a little too much to drink.

 

Chaeyoung starts singing her heart out, shouting the words of the song.  _~And I can't stand you. Must everything you do make me wanna smile. Can I not like you for a while~_ She raises her left arm and waves it with the beat while she puts her right arm around Tzuyu and makes her sway with her. Tzuyu follows as she pretends to be holding a mic of her own and sings along dramatically. _~But you won't let me. You upset me, girl. And then you kiss my lips. All of a sudden I forget (that I was upset)~_

 

Mina just watches them and can’t help but laugh. She’s usually reserved but when she drinks she enjoys how carefree she can be around her friends and strangers that would only vaguely remember how the night went. She also enjoys how she could just let herself feel and act on it because there’s a selfish part of her consciousness that tells her she could easily make an excuse by blaming it on the buzz when consequences become an inconvenience. So for the past couple of hours she hasn’t been holding back, she even took Dahyun’s hand and placed their intertwined fingers on her left thigh and hasn’t let go except for when she had to wipe off cheese on her finger. And that time she momentarily removed her hold and let Dahyun rest her hand flat on her thigh, right beyond the hem of her skirt — which she certainly did on purpose.

 

The jack to coke ratio Dahyun has been pouring for herself might have been miscalculated seeing that everything looks hazy and her two friends singing across her seem to be a lot funnier than they should. She can still feel her left hand but it can’t quite properly grip her glass anymore but what she feels for sure is that her other hand has been holding Mina’s under the table and all Dahyun could process right now is that they have been and still are _too_ close and she would gladly want to get closer. Although she knows she has to stand up and go pee as soon as possible but her legs seem unstable for a short walk to the toilet. For now, she tries to regain herself, tries to focus on something. So she turns to her right and looks at Mina.

 

Mina faces her, “What?” and asks with a little giggle.

 

Dahyun unconsciously forms a little smile but fails to give an answer and just continues to let the world blur away as she gives all her attention to Mina. It didn’t help in stabilizing her tipsy self and even made it worse because now she is internally conflicted.

 

You know how alcohol comes with a newfound confidence or could more likely be described as a misguided sense of confidence (at times is also better known as an increase in stupidity). Dahyun just stares, not fully aware of how inconsistent her thoughts and actions are at the moment. She is currently having a fast paced rambling in her head. _She’s still holding my hand. I love it when she holds my hand. We always hold hands. It’s normal, nothing special. But wow Mina is really pretty, she’s always been. I’ve probably liked her for a few months now. No, for sure more than a few months._ And it’s not making things any easier. _So yeah I’ve liked her for a little while now, maybe more. But who cares? We’re friends. I can’t tell her. Why would I tell her? I won’t tell her. Ever. That will be wei—_

 

But Dahyun still suddenly blurts it out.

 

“I like you. I really, really like you.”

 


	2. II

Dahyun leans in. It is obvious Mina considers it for a second but then a subtle panic takes over so she stops Dahyun and holds her off by the right shoulder.

 

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are just there across them, paused mid singing. Their mouths agape and eyes wide, frozen almost in a comical way.

 

Dahyun’s senses finally caught up, “Sorry” and she completely backs away. “I have to go pee.” Mina doesn’t say anything.

 

She heads to the toilet, unsteadily but as fast as she could that she almost collided with a not so sober Nayeon who was on her way out of the restroom. It was a bit of a struggle, the stall is cramped and she’s a little dizzy that she slightly fell forward and bumped her head on the door as she was about to sit down. Yes she’s regretting how she said it out loud and what she regrets more is that she even attempted to go lean in. She has been thinking about her feelings for Mina for some time now although it hasn’t crossed her mind that she would actually do something about it and not to mention _this soon,_ but tonight she is inconveniently too honest. With her head buried in her hands, she contemplates how to go about it; she’s planning that she’d say sorry and own up to it and try her best not to make things weird. That’s the only way she can think of and it shouldn’t be that hard. She exits the stall, washes her hands, and tries to calm herself before she goes out. 

 

As she is walking back to their table someone grabs her hand and lightly pulls her, Dahyun turns and it’s Sana sitting with her friends. “Is it okay if we make out?” Sana flashes an annoyingly confident (yet adorable) smile. “It’s for a dare.” Sana explains as she gestures her head to the direction of her friends who are waiting expectantly at them. Apparently, they’re playing truth or dare and what a perfect coincidence that Dahyun was about to pass by.

 

She is caught off guard. She blinks twice, looks at Sana, and then her friends, and back to Sana. “Uh, yeah? Sure.” Dahyun answers, it was nearly just a mumble.

 

Dahyun immediately wants to take it back but Sana stood too quickly, too eager. She didn’t have time to react and the next thing she feels is a hand resting on her collarbone and her lower lip in between cold lips that seem to have just finished a bottle of chilled beer. A bit delayed in response but she’s liking it, lips parted and head angled. She pulls away for a second just before she tilts her head to the other side and this time takes in Sana’s bottom lip. A hand slides from the collarbone to the neck and then the nape to pull her in and she lets her. She was about to get lost in it, people are beginning to fade away, until Sana’s friends started egging them on and suddenly the crowd becomes overwhelming again so she draws back.

 

“You like to continue with this tonight?” Ironically, Sana said it in a very cute almost innocent way, she looks absolutely harmless.

“I don’t know.” Dahyun is not that drunk to impulsively respond but she does need some air, it’s getting stuffy. “I just want to get out of here.” She’s feeling a rush of emotions — first is embarrassment because of how she admitted her feelings out in the open then second, she’s upset about her thoughtless actions that made her friends uncomfortable it ruined the mood they’re supposed to have fun tonight, and lastly she feels or rather _she is_ stupid for randomly making out with an acquaintance which Mina probably witnessed. She has to stop making a series of mindless decisions in just one night; it’s really not where she should be for now. But as she was about to walk away, Sana beats her to it and drags her by her wrist.

 

Mina’s been watching, unable to process how she’s feeling about it, so many questions in her head but she only managed to say a few of them out loud, “Should I text her? Call her?” She is visibly concerned that she can’t stay still in her seat. “Should I go after her?”

Chaeyoung is already ringing her phone. “She’s not picking up.” 

“She’ll be fine she knows Sana.” Tzuyu attempts to think of other options. “Just text her. Tell her to at least let us know where she’ll be.”

 

The atmosphere was better outside. “You said you wanted to get out.” Fresh air did help somehow. “So about that,” Sana sits on the bench and Dahyun follows beside her. “Are you still up for it?”

It is a very tempting offer probably for all the wrong reasons since her judgement is currently unreliable and her feelings are all over the place. “Okay, I find you hot and nice and all that but if it’s one of your party games then maybe not.” She is aware that she’s not in the most stable state to decide so she avoids any possible sign that’ll urge her to make another dumb choice tonight, she doesn’t even face Sana as they talk.

“I know you’re not dense, we’ve been flirting last semester.” They have been teasing each other — playful yet not entirely meaningless teasing. “And no, it’s not part of the game. So can you please notice me?” Sana whines as she pokes Dahyun’s cheek.

 

Dahyun is well aware of the obvious flirting they’ve had but she didn’t know it would eventually come to this point. She’s positive she was superficially interested in her like how she couldn’t help staring that one and only time she found Law on Partnerships and Corporations fascinating because Sana kept on licking her lips while reporting, but that’s all there is to it she doesn’t really know her that well. Dahyun finally spares her a glance. She did find Sana extremely attractive, just like now even when she’s pouty and bratty with her arms crossed, “I’m thinking about it okay.”

 

This will be nothing serious though — no strings attached, one night stand, they can call it what they want. She’s very much single and it’s not like she’s going to cheat on her crush that doesn’t like her back. There’s some major debate going on in her head, there is no point in refusing except that this is an unhealthy way of coping with rejection. But Dahyun can’t think straight right now because Sana just scooted closer. The tip of her nose barely touching her ear, she feels how Sana lets out a breath before tilting her head a bit to whisper dangerously close that it got her flustered more than it should, “My roommate won’t be home tonight.” She gives her earlobe a little tug, and that’s when Dahyun knew there is still enough time to screw up one more thing for the night.

 

 

Today is not the best day for her but she doesn’t mind so much now when she’s lying down on Sana’s bed straddled by the hip. It’s not so bad when she gets to run her hands from her knees up to her thighs right before settling on her waist. It’s getting good because Sana bends down to meet her and lands her lips squarely on hers and then nibbles her bottom lip before slipping her tongue. It’s even better when she inches up a hand to her chest and places her other hand in between Sana’s legs then lightly slides a finger. It’s really going great when Sana opens wider, props herself up a little by the elbow with her lips by her ear. She inserts a finger and Sana hums as she starts a rhythm with her hips, she whimpers as she inserts another one, she moans when she gives light circular pressure with her thumb. She surely doesn’t mind hearing Sana like this all night long either.

 

 

Dahyun wakes up and the first thing she sees is the familiar uniformed ceiling of the university’s dorm rooms. Sana is still asleep beside her.

 

Dahyun sits up and briefly scans the room, looking for her phone. She searches the bed and found it underneath the comforter with eleven missed calls and seven messages almost all from Chaeyoung so she shoots her a message,  _“I’m fine. Sorry didn’t call. I’m going back in a while.”_

 

As she reaches for her top that was hanging by the foot of the bed, she slightly pulled the comforter with her and Sana stirs awake to this. Dahyun looks back at her, “Good morning.”

“It’s so early. It’s a Saturday.” Sana yawns. “Why are you up and ready to leave so early for?” Sana stretches and the comforter slides down, exposing her.

Dahyun takes a look for a good three seconds before answering. “My roommate is looking for me. And it’s already 2:00 in the afternoon.”

 

Dahyun checks her messages again and there’s nothing from Mina but there are four call logs from her. She can’t avoid Mina or the topic forever so it’s best to think of temporary solutions to this situation. She could send her a message but what would she say? And it might be rude to discuss it through text. She could wait for Monday when she has to inevitably face her but that would give her ten times the stress while she waits during the weekend. She settles for something in between and sends Mina a text,  _“Hi. I’m sorry. Let’s talk on Monday?”_

 

“Thank you for last night, not just for your highly impressive bedroom skills” Dahyun puts on her shirt and combs her fingers through the tangles of her hair “You saved me” That’s somewhat dramatic. “So I owe you big time.”

“Saved you from what exactly?” Sana grins at her, intrigued.

Dahyun shamelessly tells her of how unfortunate her night was. Sana listens, amused of how interesting the night went for Dahyun that she can’t keep from laughing at how things turned unbelievably fast.

“Wow what a great timing!” Sana, still in a fit of giggles, hands Dahyun her phone. “We should exchange numbers for when you need help again.” Dahyun just laughs with her.

 

 

Chaeyoung is sitting on the bed waiting for her. And before she asks anything, Dahyun cuts in “I’m really sorry for not replying. And no I don’t want to talk about Mina yet.” She’s shy, thinking about it while sober makes it seem so cringey. “We’ll talk on Monday. I promise.”

“How about later during dinner?” They always have dinner together on weekends and she doesn’t want to explicitly refuse to hang out with them but she’s not ready _at all._ She needs a convincing lie as soon as possible or maybe an effective diversion from the topic.

“I slept with Sana.” Chaeyoung stays silent, waiting for any details. “And I’ll tell you about it soon but not now. I have plans with her today.” Chaeyoung just sighs as she plops down on her bed and drops the topic, she doesn’t have the energy to insist she’d rather catch up on sleep after a night of worrying about her roommate.

Dahyun takes her phone sends Sana a message,  _“Told my friends I will be at your place today. Just keep up with the lie thanks.”_ She gets a reply in a couple of minutes.  _“You can stop lying and just go here. I’m staying in anyways.”_

 

 

It’s honestly not what Dahyun intended to do when she agreed but here she is. Trailing down kisses along Sana’s inner thigh leaving a couple of marks as she gets closer. Sana opens her legs more and Dahyun locks her down by the knees. She slowly grazes with her lower lip and Sana’s fingers grip her hair loosely while lightly pushing her head deeper. She licks with the flat of her tongue, Sana bucks her hip, she sucks on it, and Sana makes a sultry groan. That’s their second night in a row.

 

 

There is a persistent knocking on the door; it’s getting louder as if the person is getting impatient. Sana finally stands up and gets the nearest piece of clothing, she runs to the door wearing Dahyun’s oversized pullover.

 

Dahyun sits ups and wraps herself with the comforter. She sees Nayeon walk in but she’s still disoriented from the sudden wake up call so she just sits there, sleepy and confused. “She’s your roommate?”

“No, my roommate went home for the weekend.” Sana picks up her own shirt and throws it to Dahyun for her to wear.

“Have you guys been doing it like since Friday night?” Nayeon is ready to make fun of them.

But neither of them answers. Sana picks up a couple of clothes and tosses Dahyun her sweatpants. “You can just stay here again, if you want?” Sana asks as she sits back on the bed “With Nayeon though.”

 

Dahyun spends the day with them while they do their own thing. Dahyun is drowning herself in sappy music as she overthinks all that could possibly happen tomorrow. Nayeon is too immersed in the drama she’s binge watching that she ugly cried at the last episode. Sana has been on her laptop editing a video commercial for her class, she hasn’t had a break since lunch and it’s starting to get on her nerves that she’s clicking her trackpad harder than necessary.

 

“You’re getting cranky.” Nayeon is trying to playfully annoy her. “Maybe Dahyun could help you with the stress.”

“As much as I want to go for a third night, I really have to finish this.” Sana keeps her attention fixed on her screen.

“It’s just 12:43am we have time.” Sana looks at her in mock disapproval. “Kidding! I have an early class later so I’m gonna go now.” 

“No goodbye kiss? Wha—” Dahyun got out of the room before she even hears the end of Nayeon’s joke.

 

 

Dahyun turns on the light, then she stops in her tracks — she wasn’t expecting her bed is occupied by Mina.  She looks impossibly ethereal while sleeping with her cheek squished into the pillow, she just wants to cuddle her all night then wake her up with the softest boop on the nose.

But of all the scenarios she’s imagined, this is not one of them. She’s pretty much stunned and has no idea what to do.

 


	3. III

Dahyun tiptoes to her bed while she keeps her eyes on Mina, waiting for any sign that she's still awake. But the rise and fall of her chest is steady, mouth a little open, fingers relaxed in a natural curl, and her hair tousled; seems like she has been asleep for a while so she walks back to turn off the light. She has been dreading to have a confrontation with Mina that she avoided any chance to be in the same space as her for the past few days but here she is climbing into bed and lying down on the space Mina has intentionally left for her. Why is this beautiful human being even here, beside her, in _her_ bed? Dahyun is dying to know the answer; her heartbeat can wake up the whole building and she sure wouldn’t mind if it would at least wake up the person next to her because she could not bring herself to give Mina a nudge when she’s looking like the softest fluffball that you would never dare to upset. She doesn’t move nor utter a word; she stays with her back against the mattress and hands clasped on top of her belly as she gets lost in thought. _Will Mina awkwardly rush out of the room? Or will Mina wake her up with a gentle caress on the shoulder? With a smile that can make her look forward to Monday mornings? Will she finally tell Dahyun how much she also likes—_ oh yeah how could she almost forget. Mina likes someone else _—_ _Jeongyeon_. She knows Jeongyeon fairly well since they both play for the school’s soccer team, they are both into photography, and they both know Mina. Although the difference, Jeongyeon is team captain, Jeongyeon is chosen to represent the university for a photo exhibit, and it’s no secret Mina is crushing on her so comparing the two of them there is no way Mina would like her in the way she dreams of. She just stares blankly at the ceiling, her mind quieting down along with the stillness of the room. But she hears a small incomprehensible mumble from a half asleep Mina, then an arm finds its way to her, forearm resting on her lower rib. She turns her head to the side, scans her face to see if she’s about to wake up but her eyes are still shut and breath still calm. For now, Dahyun lets herself enjoy the simplicity of the moment.

  
  


There is nothing gentle about the way the hand is shaking her shoulder right now. “It starts in less than thirty minutes!” And beginning the day with her roommate shouting wouldn’t even make her like weekend mornings. “You have to go take a shower!” Dahyun hopes Chaeyoung could lower her voice a bit, waking up on a Monday with less than four hours of sleep is bad enough. Mina is already up, sitting next to her, sluggishly scrolling on the phone with her face still puffy from sleep and strands of her messy hair covering almost half of her face. Dahyun sits and Mina looks up but neither of them says anything. “Get up fast, both of you!” Chaeyoung drags her by the sleeve. “We can’t be late!” Dahyun could only hurriedly hop out of bed while Mina makes a beeline to her own dorm room. Maybe they can talk about it later in the day.

  
  


What’s worse than an hour of sleep-inducing classroom lecture is the two-hour mandatory forum they are on their way to. “How did it go last night?” Chaeyoung asks amidst running and panting. “We didn’t get to talk. She was asleep when I got there.” A few steps away from the auditorium and they spot Mina and Tzuyu waiting for them by the entrance. “At least try not to make it awkward.”

 

Looks like Dahyun has a different definition of trying seeing that she purposely sat three seats away from Mina. They are oddly quiet doing their own thing. Mina is on her phone, Tzuyu is reading the forum pamphlet, Chaeyoung is doodling carrots on her own arm, and Dahyun is getting comfy to snooze before the program officially starts. She was about to doze off when Chaeyoung whispers a question. “Why did you sit there? You’re making it weird.” She glances at Mina and Tzuyu also having their hushed conversation. “What?” She dramatically leans away as if offended. “This is a very normal arrangement for us.” Chaeyoung just gives her the eye roll.

 

Dahyun has been entertaining herself with Mario Kart Tour for too long already. Her phone is drained so she gets her hand on the closest thing she could fidget with, a pen, a coin, the hem of Chaeyoung’s sweater paw, basically just about anything that will help her get through this. Six speakers finished and the seventh and last presenter is now on stage but waiting for the program to end seemed like forever because the endless q&a session is making it longer than it should that she swears she could strangle the next student who asks yet another insightful question she doesn't really care about. She is a little too on edge because she’s hungry  _ and  _ sleepy which is never a good combination, and maybe because she has to face something or more like someone later on. The emcee finally  _ (finally) _ finishes his closing remarks and Dahyun is the first to stand among the crowd.

  
  


Don’t make things weird. At this point it could be her mantra from the number of times she has repeated it in her head and that’s all Dahyun can think of right now (aside from the burger she’s planning to order with extra cheese but no pickles, plus onion rings on the side) as they make their way to their fave cafe. Dahyun can’t ruin the vibe of this place; this cafe is and always will be for good memories only. This is where the four of them first ate out together, where they meet when they cut class, where they had breakfast at three in the morning after a party, where they briefly catch up in between their different schedules. There is something comforting about it and Dahyun likes to keep it that way so she sits beside Mina, tries her best to contain the restlessness she’s holding since this morning and for a moment everything was back to normal. They do what they usually do, she feeds Mina an onion ring, Mina shares with her a soda, and they all laugh about that petty student council Twitter fight, occasionally leaning on each other while giggling. All is pretty fine until Dahyun started to get jittery repeatedly wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans because Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are about to leave for a class while she still has a one hour break. With Mina. She clears her throat then shifts her seat towards Mina, she’s almost ready to casually open up the topic but Chaeyoung calls out a quick reminder before they step out. “By the way! Don’t forget to email your file to Jihyo, she wants to compile them before class.” Dahyun does a facepalm. “I totally forgot about our group project.” Apparently she still has one more thing to take care of. “I’ll stop by the library and you can go ahead, if you want?” Dahyun won’t deny that a part of her wishes Mina has somewhere else she needs to be, “It’s fine, I’ll go with you.” Because with Mina smiling at her like that, she may not be able to keep her cool for so long.

  
  


Seventeen tabs open, window is lagging, and if she could type hundred words per minute she would. Mina is beside her browsing BuzzFeed articles on the computer while Dahyun is trying her best to make it quick, she needs one more sensible paragraph to finalize her paper but her brain is not cooperating. Just when she has made up her mind to settle for a sloppy industry analysis research to get it over with, Sana randomly rolls in and sits on the edge of her table. “Hey, cutie.” Dahyun barely registered the greeting, she had her attention on attaching the file. 

“Trying to get into bed with Dahyun again?” And of course it’s followed by Nayeon’s familiar teasing voice. Email is sent; a couple of clicks to logout and she’ll be done in a second. 

“No, I just wanted to say hi.” Sana’s comment was undeniably followed by a flirty snicker and she knows she needs to get out of there, like right now. 

“Oh, you’re not? Then maybe I can borrow Dahyun some ti—” Dahyun abruptly stands up, she doesn’t really want Nayeon to finish what she’s about to say. 

“Okay,” All she can do is laugh nervously while Mina quietly observes them, expressionless. “I need to go now.” She takes apprehensive glances at the three of them before bolting. 

“See you around?” Sana and Nayeon look somewhat confused but Dahyun doesn’t have time to explain, she takes Mina’s hand hurriedly guiding her outside.

 

Dahyun eventually let go and grips her bag strap instead as they walk, clenching on it like it’ll give her the courage to spit out at least one syllable any moment now because it’s not a long walk before they reach the building for their next class. “So,” But Mina immediately cuts her off. “Look, this was never going to work.” Almost three days of agonizing anticipation and she gets the answer in less than three seconds. “Oh. It’s okay. I get it.” She has seen this coming but it’s a lie if she says it doesn’t hurt. It’s also a lie if she says she didn’t get a tad bit optimistic after she saw Mina waiting for her last night, she’s always been the hope for the best expect the worst kind of person. She really has nothing else to say and the silence is getting uncomfortable so she puts her attention elsewhere, kicks a pebble, steps on a crunchy leaf, perhaps even the grainy cemented pathway is getting interesting at this point because she has never wanted to get to class as fast as possible as she does now. Mina doesn’t say anything either, not until before she pushes the classroom door open. “Now that we have that cleared, can things go back to normal?”

 

And that’s what Dahyun does, pretends everything is fine. She high fives Chaeyoung like she’s not feeling the lowest she’s ever been. She laughs at Tzuyu’s joke like she’s not trying to hold back a sob. Mina and Dahyun sit a little too close, elbows touching every now and then as if she doesn’t want to be ten seats away from her. Lecture is boring as usual and Dahyun is zoning out. Their professor has been blabbing since he got here but Dahyun isn’t listening to a single word, she’s thinking of how to get her head straight because she can’t ruin their friendship that is one of the only few things she is sure of. They have gone through almost all of the PowerPoint slides and Dahyun didn’t even read half of it, she’s busy reminding herself to keep her emotions at bay like she always does. She’s staring into space and probably not blinking, Chaeyoung had to wave a hand right in front of her face. “Prof said we can take the last fifteen minutes to have a group meeting.” She snaps back to reality to see people scattering to break into their groups and finding a space to meet. “What happened?” Chaeyoung asks once they sat down with their group mates. 

“I think she wants to stay friends.” She gives a nonchalant shrug, tries her best to appear cool about it. “We’re good, don’t worry about it.” Dahyun hopes Chaeyoung buys it.

 

They reviewed their stuff, listed down what needs to be revised, delegated tasks for each member, have set up a timetable for the deliverables, and nothing more to discuss so Dahyun and Chaeyoung were about to stand to leave when Jihyo asks. “You guys are friends with Mina right?” 

Chaeyoung answers for the both of them. “Yeah we’re pretty close.” And Dahyun follows with a nod. 

“Okay you know my friend, Jeongyeon?” Dahyun is torn whether she wants to know where this conversation is going or not. “I need your help ‘cause Jeongyeon is such a pussy!” She has an idea what this is about but she prays she’s wrong. “She likes Mina.” It is safe to say that it is not a good day for Dahyun. “I want to get them together, if you’re up for it?” Chaeyoung looks at Dahyun with her big round eyes hinting a mix of both disbelief and concern. Dahyun is aware only stupid people would agree to something like this, watching Mina from the sidelines swoon over someone else would hurt like hell more so be involved in making it happen. 

“Sure, we can do something about it.” Apparently, she is one of those people after all.

  
  


Dahyun crashes on her bed and Chaeyoung slumps next to her. “Do you want to talk about it?” Dahyun covers her face with a pillow and doesn’t say a word. “You don’t have to help set them up though?” That is true  _ but _ the sadness is making her dumb, her brain is telling her that it might help her detach without blatantly pushing people, more specifically Mina, away. “They’re a good fit, the feeling is mutual. I can’t do anything about it.” Her voice is muffled but Chaeyoung is still there trying to understand her, she’s always so patient with her that Dahyun would someday grow a strawberry farm for this self-proclaimed strawberry princess just to show her how much she’s appreciated. “If you don’t feel like talking yet, do you want to go out? I’m meeting a friend you can come with me.” One other thing Chaeyoung is good in is knowing how to console her.

  
  


Dahyun got so caught up it slipped her mind that the opening of the weeklong university festival is tonight. The atmosphere is great with the smell of smoky grilled beef from the food tents and scent of cinnamon from the churro food cart, boyfriends at the carnival booths throwing darts at balloons to win that big stuffed penguin for their girls, student orgs selling merchandise for their promotions and fundraisers, and the marching band is on the field while the cheer squad is doing back flips and tumbling. Campus is so alive with all these students roaming around giddy and chill, some are having a picnic on the lawn, others are by the bleachers taking pictures, and a roaring crowd is gathered in front of the stage. 

“Who are we meeting and why are Mina and Tzuyu not with us?” It’s not that she wants to see her, although a glimpse would be fine, the point is she doesn’t want the four of them falling apart because of her and besides, they’ve attended the festival together since freshman year. 

“They didn’t bring it up either, maybe they’re staying in? And I’m meeting Momo.” Dahyun stops walking, the information is too much she can’t process it while multitasking.

“Wait. What? Momo? The friend you’re meeting is Momo? Are the two of you dating? Or something?” Dahyun is beyond clueless, she didn’t expect that. 

“Nope. I mean, nothing serious yet. It’s our first time going out together.” A sudden realization hits her, so they’ve been flirting all those times Momo went with them during fieldwork.

“Did you really just bring me to your first date with her?” Chaeyoung is ready to do anything for her; she’s too precious for this world she doesn’t deserve to worry about her heartbroken friend tailing on a first date. 

“Okay I'm sorry for making you tag along but I just had to before you start moping.” Dahyun is far from mad for being a third wheel, she’s actually so grateful for having a friend like her that she had to give her the tightest hug and cheesiest smile with a small shy thank you. But she needs to get out of their way sooner or later and find someone else to bother tonight so she texts Sana, asking if she’s at the festival.

 

Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Momo and are lining up to order corn dogs when they hear someone calling Momo; they turn around to see Jihyo approaching them excitedly pulling Jeongyeon with her. After a few small talks Jihyo discreetly asks Dahyun where Mina is, convincing her how it’s the perfect time and place to start breaking the ice. She can’t say no to her face without having to explain  _ very _ personal stuff (like how she likes the same person and how the said person rejected her just this afternoon) so she takes her phone and in a couple of rings Mina picks up. “Where are you? We’re at the festival, come here with Tzuyu?” Mina said they’ll be there and in about twenty minutes they arrive, it was easy to spot Mina when she’s elegantly waddling her way as if people are parting to make way for a queen. Mina and Tzuyu are surprised they have company but Jihyo smoothly takes over the conversation and soon enough she has gotten Mina and Jeongyeon comfortably talking. Dahyun feels defeated, she has to admit they look good together and a few more dates they’ll be a blissful couple in no time. Tzuyu and Jihyo went to grab snacks, Chaeyoung and Momo are taking videos that they almost look like YouTube vlogger girlfriends, and Dahyun doesn’t even want to check how much Mina is enjoying Jeongyeon’s dad jokes so she awkwardly stood there gazing at the crowd and like an angel sent from heaven to save her from this misery, she suddenly met eyes with a familiar face. Nayeon beamed at her with her bunny teeth before walking towards her. “Hi! Why aren’t you with Sana?” 

She would have gone to her in a heartbeat but she doesn’t know where she is. “I texted but no reply.” Dahyun gives her an exaggerated pouty face that can win over anyone. 

“Sana replied, you dumbass. She’s waiting for you.” Nayeon links their arms and steals her away from her friends. 

“There you are!” Sana puts an arm around her shoulder so Dahyun pulls her close by the waist. Sana and Nayeon introduce her to their friends who Dahyun discovers, are just as warm and entertaining as them. The battle of the bands got them hyped that Dahyun and Nayeon are singing along a little too loud and probably out of tune but they don’t care as long as it feels right. The songs got them pumped that they’re dancing carefree, with Sana’s back practically pressed against Dahyun, hips one with the beat and bodies in sync. She is genuinely having fun but she’s so tired, the good kind of tired but she is so exhausted she needs a break. “I’ll go buy a drink, you guys want some too?” She asks Sana and her friends. “Yes please, I’m so thirsty.” Dahyun was a few strides away when Sana called her. “Wait, I wanna come with you.” She held out her hand and Sana takes it, Dahyun leads as they push their way through the crowd with their fingers intertwined. But they didn’t make it to the vending machine because Sana yanked her away from the noise then turns at the corner to hide in a dimly lit empty hallway. Sana gives her a peck and Dahyun bursts out laughing. “I thought you were thirsty.” Sana leans on the wall, takes Dahyun by the wrist to keep her close. “Yeah, I am.” Dahyun is not sure if she’s slow or Sana wasn’t clear about what she meant when she said she’s thirsty but with the way Sana is ogling at her lips and how Sana doesn’t mind when she rests her hands on her hips made it clearer. 

  
The song playing in the distance is getting inaudible; Dahyun’s senses are zeroing in on Sana. She gets a lot closer that she can smell Sana’s perfume with a whiff of that distinct detergent used at the resident laundromat. Her eyes are focused on her lips, how the tip of her tongue slightly peeked out before playfully grinning at her. Sana leans in, the kiss was so gentle and chaste she didn’t expect it’ll be followed by a soft bite on her lower lip. Dahyun kisses her back, she can faintly taste what’s left of Sana’s watermelon lip tint and it’s making her want more. The sensation of Sana’s tongue is making her head rush that she draws back for a second but Sana pulls her. Her lips brush Sana’s neck, she might have left a mark or two. Dahyun slides a hand under her shirt, from her lower back and—  _ a phone rings. _ Dahyun slightly jumps and Sana’s shriek echoed in the hollow corridor. She checks her phone but doesn’t accept nor decline the call, just puts it on silent. “Sorry.” Sana cracks up laughing. “It’s okay.” Her day took a 180-degree turn thanks to Sana, and she’d prefer for it to stay that way for the rest of the night but something is nagging at the back of her mind, _ why was Mina calling her? _

**Author's Note:**

> Can you guys guess the ships for this fic?


End file.
